Tuesday / February 7 / 2023
Written by Kyle Fisher-Grant

We had another great night this Tuesday after having canceled Friday’s session due to opening night of The Peculiar Patriot at Detroit Public Theatre. At only seven ensemble members, the group is strong. There is an extremely high level of engagement, and an unusually high level of willingness from the ensemble; it feels as though we’ve worked together for years.

This Tuesday was a special night: the eleventh birthday of Shakespeare in Prison! We talked about the history of the program for a bit, and as we talked we collectively decided that it would be fitting to get “Silly Hamlet” up on its feet tonight. There was something about it that really spoke to the group; I think the combined seriousness and levity really hit the spot. We were short on scripts, so we were all constantly passing the scripts around, not to mention that we had at the very least three parts each. King Hamlet’s ghost did some of the Thriller dance, Banquo made a cameo and the participant who played him absolutely milked it, the death rattles for all the characters in Act Five were over-the-top and on-the-money, the “sword fighting” was mimed and completely ridiculous, every pop song Ophelia sang was sung with commitment—in short, it was a bit of a ruckus and everyone laughed from start to finish. For some ensemble members, it was their first time through the plot of Hamlet, and they were surprised at how many of the main characters do not live through the play. One new member explained that in Shakespeare “all the best parts get killed!”

We finished the run of the play with five minutes to spare, and before we put up the ring we sang a very big “Happy Birthday” to SIP.

Friday / February 17 / 2023
Written by Kyle Fisher-Grant

Tonight we had twenty participants, many of them new. Because of the program’s long pause due to Covid, many of the new members did not have even a passing familiarity with the program; in seasons past we had been highly recommended by previous members, or someone had seen a performance. A few “newbies” thought they had signed up for a traditional Shakespeare class where they would be writing papers and receiving a grade. We explained that, although those types of traditional education classes are valuable, it’s not what we do in SIP. It was really exciting to see their spirits rise when they realized that they would be participating in a performance with props, costumes, and the like. Because there were so many new members, most of the night was spent in orientation mode. We discussed the program's values, history, goals, methods, expectations, and answered as many questions as we could. We could feel the slow roll of smiles as the nature of the program came into focus, and the excitement seemed contagious as the night progressed. A returning member from our Twelfth Night season really took a leadership role in facilitating the orientation. She told stories of learning her lines, being up on stage, and how she and her bunkie studied for hours to learn those lines. We finished the orientation with the ring exercise and jumped right into some improv games. The group seems to really be bonding, and one new member said, “I just want to perform right now!”

We started by playing a game we’ve been working on over the last couple of weeks. The new members loved it and had a great time trying to keep all the rules straight. Then, by unanimous vote, the ensemble decided to read some Shakespeare before the night was over. There were more willing readers than characters in the scene, and most of the readers were one hundred percent new to the group. There was a lot of excitement in the room, and the six members who have been in the group for the past month did a really great job of bringing newer members into the fold.